Portable lever operated tire bead loosener



March 21, 1950 H. c. KUHLMANN 2,501,225

PQRTABLE LEVER OPERATED .TIRE BEAD LOOSENER I Filed June 18, 1945INVENTOR. Henry 6- ffu/r/ma/m FITTO/F/VEY Patented Mar. 21, 1950PORTABLE LEVER OPERATED TIRE BEAD LOOSENER Henry C. Kuhlmann, SiouxCity, Iowa Application June 18, 1945, Serial No. 600,083

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to a tire tool.

An object of my invention is to provide a tire bead loosener which willeffectively loosen and remove the tire bead from a rim.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tool of this characterwhich includes a maximum amount of leverage with such leverage beingapplied directly and downwardly against the bead.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tool of this characterwhich can be readily adjusted to rims of various diameters and which canbe quickly manipulated from one side of the rim and then from the otherwhen loosening both beads of a tire from the rim.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tool of this characterwhich is positive in operation in that it can not slip out of placeduring the bead loosening operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide the aforementionedobjects in a simple construction requiring very few parts and which canbe manufactured at a reasonable cost.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the vario is parts of mydevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafterset forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the tool as applied against a tire bead,

Figure 2 is a sectional detail taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1,and I Figure 3 is a section detail taken along the lines 33 of Figure 1.

My invention contemplates the provision of a tool for removing tirebeads from rims, such beads commonly being firmly adherent to the rim,whereby it is necessary to apply sufficient force in the correctdirection to remove or loosen the bead before the tire casing isremoved, and to loosen both beads at either side of the casing. Myinvention also contemplates the provision of such a tool withoutrequiring supporting brackets etc., and whereby the casing can beremoved on the floor.

I have used the character H] to designate a tire casing having therespective annular beads l and I2 which are normally received within theangled flanges l3 and M which extend'from the well l5 of the rim H5. Theinner tube H has been shown in dotted lines so as not to confuse thestructure. The rim I6 further includes the pressed metal inner portionIla and the central opening l8 2 around which are spaced the usual boltholes l9, and attached within the member Ha are the hub cap retainingclips 20.

The tool of my invention comprises a lengthened bar 2| which can be madeof a hollow pipe or any other form, which bar 2| extends into thedownwardly projecting portion 22 which includes an opening 23 having anupper slot at 25, and the portion 22 extends into the further portion 25which terminates in the pair of arcuate prongs 26 which prongs areadapted to slide or be forced between the flanges l3 or M and the tirebeads H or l2.

Received through the opening 23 is a further pipe member 21 to which isattached a series of spaced projecting lugs 28, and formed integrallywith the pipe member 21 is the downwardly extending portion 29 which isbent into the horizontal flattened portion 30 to which is attached asmall extending pin or lug 3|. The pipe member 21 is normally receivedrather loosely in the opening 23.

The device is operated in the following manner. The air is firstreleased from the tube, and the flat member 30 is placed through thecentral opening I8 of the rim with the pin or lug 3| projecting upthrough one of the openings l9. The curved prongs 26 are then startedbetween the flange 3 and the bead The bar 2| is then forced downwardlyat the end thereof in the direction of the arrow 32. The engagement ofthe member 3|] and the lug 3| in the manner explained, provides a firmanchor at the end of the tool, and as the bar 2| is forced downwardlythe prongs 26 will first be forced firmly between the flange l3 and thebead II, and then down, the continued downward movement of the bar 2|causing the lower convex sides of the curved prongs 26 to force the beaddownwardly as the lower edges of the prongs also slide along the portion33 of the retaining flange.

As a result of the firm anchoring effect of the lower end of the tooland the pronounced leverage the bead will be forced away from itsposition and downwardly in the direction of the arrow 34. It will thenbe noted that one of the lugs 28 during this operation maintains the twoportions 2 and 21 against relative slidable movement. These spaced lugsalso permit the use of the tool on any diameter rim, the properadjustment being made beforehand by simply rotating the member 21 sothat the lugs will pass through the open slot 24 until the correctspacing is made. In most rims the flange 35 which includes the centralopening I8 is closer to one of the bead retaining flanges than theother. For instance, as shown in the drawings this flange is closer tothe bead retaining flange l3 thanthe flange l4. Insuch cases when theother bead I2 is removed, the rim is turned over and the same operationis performed by merely adjusting the member 27 so that the next higherlug 28 will bear against the portion 22 since in this operation therewill be a correspondingly greater distance between the flange l4 and thecentral opening I8.

In this manner the tool can be adjusted to any condition requiringlonger or shorter spacing, etc.

It will now be seen that I have provided the various advantagesmentioned in the objects of my invention with further other advantagesbeing readily apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purposeof my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which maybe reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A portable tire bead loosener comprising an anchor member and anextended lever operatively engaged therewith, said anchor membercomprising a rod with a bent end portion and a flange extending at rightangles from said bent end portion, said flange being adapted to bepassed through the central opening of a wheel and engage the undersidethereof, a lug on said flange for the engagement with any one of aseries of bolt holes surrounding the central opening of said wheel, saidanchor rod having longitudinally 4 spaced lugs thereon, said extendedlever including a tire bead engaging portion, said bead engaging portionincluding a pair of arcuate prongs receivable between the bead flange ofsaid wheel and the tire bead, said extended lever having an opening forreceiving said anchor rod, said spaced lugs pivotally and adjustablyretaining said extended lever at a selected distance from the bent endportion of said anchor rod, whereby downward pivotal movement of saidextended lever will force said prongs between said bead flange and saidtire bead, said extended lever having an open slot contiguous with saidopening whereby rotation of said anchor member will provide passage ofsaid lugs therethrough for desired spaced positioning of the anchormember with respect to the extended lever.

HENRY C. KUI-ILMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,001,670 Morris Aug. 29, 19111,208,184 Mayer Dec. 12, 1916 1,211,571 Goodrich Jan. 1', 1917 1,567,276Kowalzcyk et a1. Dec. 29, 1925 2,217,139 Smith Oct. 8, 1940 2,241,886Pearce et al May 13, 1941 2,305,886 Mahler Dec. 22, 1942 2,340,586 FreedFeb. 1, 1944

